


I Never Knew (What You Do Now)

by random_fandom_memorandum



Category: RWBY
Genre: AU, Angst, Bodyswap, Eventual Romance, F/M, That's an exaggeration, nora loves her pancakes, pancakes or die, semblance fuckery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-17 02:27:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28841613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/random_fandom_memorandum/pseuds/random_fandom_memorandum
Summary: Renora bodyswap AU, takes place post volume 2 but before volume 3.
Relationships: Lie Ren/Nora Valkyrie
Kudos: 9





	I Never Knew (What You Do Now)

**Author's Note:**

> I can't promise how often this will update, but I feel like I need to get it out of my drafts folder (which is expanding WAYYYY too fast given that I have another major fic that supposedly updates "rEgUlaRlY")
> 
> so yeah
> 
> enjoy, I guess
> 
> title is from the song 'everything is easy' by dead pony, because I like naming things after songs

When Ren woke up, the first thing on his mind was pancakes. This wasn't odd in and of itself. He made pancakes every Friday for the team's breakfast, because the cafeteria food was disgusting. But for some reason, he was absolutely starving to have some pancakes. If he didn't get them soon, he felt like he'd die _Strange._

He sat up and blinked. The sun was in the wrong place. It should have been on the left side of the room, opposite his bed. Instead, it was directly in his face. _Huh?_ _What's going on? Has the sun moved?_ Stranger things had happened at Beacon, he supposed.

And why did everything seem so _tall_? 

He looked across the dorm and saw did a double take. That was him over there, still asleep. But _he_ was right here. Then he looked down at his hands. They were the wrong shade. _Strange._ And he was wearing a long-sleeved pink shirt. _Nora's? But how? I've never told her how I feel... Did I forget something important? Am I hungover?_ Then he remembered he didn't drink.

Standing up, he turned to see the mirror. 

_Oh gods._

That was _Nora_ staring back at him. As a test, he crossed his arms. In the mirror, Nora crossed hers. He winked. She winked. One final test. He concentrated to summon his semblance. But the world didn't turn grey as it normally did whenever he blocked emotions. It stayed exactly the same. Instead, lightning arced between his fingers. _Nonononono._

This couldn't be happening. It shouldn't even be possible. 

He patted his hair. It was Nora's short, red, fluffy hair. Turning his hands over showed the callouses she had from her hammer. Lifting his (her?) shirt revealed that yep, he had her chest now too. He blushed. Why had he done that? Though he supposed he'd have to get used to it, because unless something happened soon, he'd have to change into her uniform.

He bit his lip. Should he talk to Nora? Wake himself up? The thought alone made his head hurt. That was his body, but he was in Nora's. Walking was strange. Her legs were so short! How did she do this? Just getting across to the other side of the room had him tripping over his feet. 

Poking his own sleeping body was even more disconcerting. The other Ren shot up. "Huh?" he asked. Was his voice actually that deep? Then Ren Two yelled in alarm.

Ren raised his hands. "Alright, calm down," he said to his double. "It's me. Ren."

"You're me!" Ren Two accused. "Give me back my body!"

"I don't know _how_. I just woke up like this. I didn't take your body."

His other self hummed. "You woke me up!"

"You normally get up super early."

"That's when I'm not stuck in _your_ exhausted body. Are you always this tired?"

"Are you always so energetic?" he retorted. "We need to figure out how to get this back to normal. After we go to breakfast."

"Now that you mention it," Nora said, "I'm not really feeling my normal Friday Pancake feelings."

"I'm starving. How can you live like this?"

"I eat a lot."

"So we're stuck in eachother's bodies until an undetermined point in the near future. Which means at some point we're going to have to change clothes."

Watching himself blush was interesting, to say the least. "Oh, right." Nora pointed to a drawer. "Uniforms are in that drawer."

Was his voice actually that deep?

"Well, you already know where mine are," he said, "given that you stole my jacket and wore it to dinner last week."

She (he?) grumbled. "That was ONE TIME."

He rolled his eyes, then dug her uniform out of a drawer. He kept everything neat and folded. Nora put her clothes in a drawer and used her semblance to slam it shut. Gods, everything needed to be ironed terribly. 

"I will go change now," he said to nobody in particular as he left the dorm.

On reflex, he almost went into the men's locker room. But somebody saved him by grabbing his shoulder at the last second. He spun around to face them. "Ruby?" he asked. She was looking at him, perplexed.

"That's me," Ruby replied. "You okay? You seem... off." She furrowed her brow, as if trying to figure out what Nora was up to.

Were they allowed to tell other people about this? Should they? Unless they got swapped back soon, one of them would probably slip up. His mannerisms were certainly different from hers, and it didn't seem like muscle memory or any memories at all had been transferred. Thank god yesterday was their weekly scrimmage. Fighting with Nora's hammer (which was taller than she was and probably weighed more) would be a challenge, given that he was used to Stormflower - lightweight and one per hand, instead of a giant two-handed hammer. He pushed back the idea that maybe this wouldn't go away. _Focus on the now_. 

"Yeah," he said after a second. "I'm fine."

He pushed past her into the room. He didn't know what he expected, but some part of him was slightly disappointed to see that it was exactly the same as the men's locker room. Maybe all the time being forbidden from entering had given it some kind of legendary status in his mind. 

_Whoever invented skorts,_ he thought, struggling to pull it on, _deserves to be thrown off a cliff. Or launched off a cliff._ Somebody he didn't know had pointed out that he was trying to put it on inside out. Leave it to Nora to keep her clothes in such a state. The idea that he'd come back to rumbled dress pants and scuffed boots made him shudder. How could she live with this? At least Nora didn't wear heels. Pyrrha wore hers everywhere, and Ren hoped her feet were okay, because that looked painful.

Straightening his blazer, which looked like the crumples had been ironed in, he walked back out of the locker room, hefting Magnhilde. _How is this thing so heavy?_ he wondered, struggling to stay upright. _How can she lift it? Much less swing it?_ Maybe she used her semblance to amplify her strength, but he wasn't about to try THAT in the middle of the hallway.

"How did you manage to put my tie on upside down?" Ren asked Nora incredulously, once they were both back in their room. (He only almost broke four different windows getting back).

She shrugged. "Is this not the right way?'

He shook his head, hopeless. "I- No, it's not. You need to do the same thing you just did, but in reverse. That way it comes up right side up."

It was odd, seeing Nora's 'confused' expression on _his_ face. 

"Actually, you know what," he said, "I'll just do it myself."

While he was fixing his (Nora's? This would never cease to be weird) tie, he heard someone yawn.

"Good morning," Jaune said blearily. Then he saw Ren and Nora fixing each other's clothes and bolted up, eyes wide. "Am I interrupting something?"

"NOPE!" he and Nora said at the same time, too loudly to not be suspicious. 

Fortunately, Jaune was not a morning person, and wasn't very good at spotting lies. "We'll just be on our way to breakfast then!" Ren said, dragging Nora out the door with him, ignoring Jaune's protests about 'team breakfasts' and 'bonding time.'

Pancake Friday would have to wait.


End file.
